Cello player Yo-Yo Ma performs during the inauguration of the Museum of Islamic Art. The doctor who introduced "cello scrotum" to medical discourse has admitted the condition is a hoax. (AP Photos/Maneesh Bakshi)

(Newser)
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The world's cellists can rest easy today knowing the dreaded "cello scrotum" is a myth, the Independent reports. A doctor who's a member of Britain's House of Lords has confessed that she invented the condition described in a letter to the British Medical Journal as a spoof. It has been referenced in articles on medical maladies for the last 34 years.

The doctor's chemist husband wrote a note to the influential journal after the couple read another letter on "guitarist's nipple"—which the doc believes was also a spoof. They were astonished their letter was published and triggered medical discussions of the "condition," which purportedly caused scrotums to swell. Cellists say they weren't worried about the ailment anyway. "You would have to be doing something fairly extreme to get that by playing the cello,” noted a musician for the London Symphony Orchestra.

Well I'm certainly glad to hear that beautiful things can be enjoyed from an amazing piece of craftsmanship and a cello. BA-ZING! http://random.ology.com/2009/01/28/bach-cant-hurt-your-balls-cello-scrotum-revealed-as-hoax/ -Jared J. H. Catapano (ology.com)

Riffran

Jan 29, 2009 5:16 AM CST

Well I have been in the medical feild since 1991.....never heard of it till this article....and yes...too damn funny...oh the potential.....piccolo peter, fiddle flatulance, tuba boob, drum bumm, marimba megacolon....I got a million of em ...*ha cha cha cha*

MarkFL

Jan 28, 2009 10:35 PM CST

It is a little scary how easily fooled the medical community was. Cellist's scrotum is hilarious but the fact that gullible doctors fell for it is a tragedy.